#effinghamil

Effingham, Illinois

A little action is seen here on the former Pennsylvania Railroad in Effingham in central Illinois. While this appears to be the Penn Central era, this image was made on the eve of the Bicentennial—not long after Conrail was formed.

We see some light power (two EMD SD45s) move about near the crossing with Illinois Central's famed Main Line of Mid-America.

I enjoy the plethora of railroad accoutrement in this shot: the distinctive Pennsy signals, multiple train order racks, and copious amount of code line on the poles. By the way, that first locomotive, number 6107, was built for the PRR in 1966.

Receiving Orders/Station Stop

Train orders, in the form of paper flimsies, are set up in both the upper and lower forks here at Effingham, Illinois. The train approaching the station is an eastbound Amtrak National Limited.

While the fireman is ready to grab the orders while rolling by, it seems the conductor might get his by walking over and snagging them while on foot in this case, once the train is stopped, but I can’t recall if this happened. Once the train is at rest, we see the Amtrak employees ready to gather some baggage on an ancient cart.

This is all happening on the Conrail line between Indianapolis and St. Louis, which is the former Pennsylvania (and then Penn Central) here seventy miles west of Terre Haute. The diamond for the Illinois Central north-south mainline is just behind the locomotive in this image.

Orders on the Hoop

A westbound Conrail freight train is approaching Effingham, Illinois. The train is due to receive orders by way of paper “flimsies,” two of which can be seen in the order hoop.

This line was formerly Penn Central and Pennsylvania Railroad prior to that, as the distinctive signal indicates. The locomotive on point is a unique variation of the SDP45 built for the Erie Lackawanna, which was folded into Conrail on April 1st 1976.

Near Effingham

Here are a couple of shots I don't believe I've posted on Tumblr: both taken on the Illinois Central main line near Effingham, Illinois.

The first shot shows a northbound train with an SD40A on point. This unit was a variation on the SD40 that only the IC owned—kind of a precursor to the SD40-2, at least by spotting details if not electrical components. The location here is north of Effingham, half way to Sigel, with Buening Equipment in the background.

Not sure of the exact locale of the second shot, but I believe in was taken in the same general area as the first image. That's a GP40 on point of what appears to be a local train; the loco is sporting the old black, with green diamond logo, paint scheme.

Receiving Orders/Station Stop

Train orders, in the form of flimsies, are set up in both the upper and lower forks here at Effingham, Illinois. The first image shows an eastbound National Limited approaching the station.

While the fireman is ready to grab the orders while rolling by, it seems the conductor might get his by walking over and snagging them while on foot in this case, once the train is stopped, but I can’t recall. Once the train is at rest, we see the Amtrak employee gather some baggage on an ancient cart.

This is all happening on the Conrail line between Indianapolis and St. Louis, which is former Pennsy here west of Terre Haute. The diamond for the Illinois Central mainline is just behind the locomotive in the first image.

Train Schedule Board

This was seen in the passenger station in Effingham, Illinois. The board lists trains that once operated on the Illinois Central Railroad. By this time, I think two Amtrak trains would have been in play: the Panama Limited and the Shawnee. The Illini was operating as well but would turn at Champaign for its return to Chicago.

Ninety degrees to this would have been one for the Pennsy line that crosses the IC at that location—don't know why I didn't shoot that! One Amtrak train was operating on Conrail, former PC/Pennsy: the National Limited.

Local part 2

Local